Friday, February 3, 2017

Friday's Dispatch

During part of my training to deploy we were taught by police officers from multiple agencies how to interact with people. During a use of force scenario the question was posed, What if their hands are up? That is the oldesttrick in the book was the answer. We were taught the distance at which you cannot stop a rush without a weapon at the ready (18 feet?) And one with a weapon at the ready (8 feet?) And then we experimented by actually role playing and bum rushing each other. We not only knew what to expect from the scenario- we knew each other well and we simply could not overcome the inertia those close distances brought to the exercise.

A bonus: we were all more/less equally matched and completely sober. What if a police officer is outmatched by a guy who has a foot of height, the same in reach and outweighs him by a hundred pounds and might be chemically impaired?

My boss is from Alabama. As I write this (01/11/2017) he is still trying to recover from Monday's game. Honestly- I do not even like to tease him about it as the first time time I ribbed him about 'Bama's loss tears welled up in his eyes.

Last night I rewatched the great movie Gladiator. It is odd to me that I did not remember the very annoying music which played over the opening battle scene. It was so out of place I presumed I had another instance of my video player or music player open and stopped the movie to close the offending noise maker. As a bonus- it sounds like music from Pirates of the Caribbean. .